As I am staring 2017 straight in the face I’m really not sure what it will hold or what I will bring to it. I feel like I am at such a crossroads in my life. I can see what I want it to look like, I’m just not sure how to get there, or maybe how best to get there. There is a part of me that just wants to run off to an island, totally isolated, not worrying about all the trivial things that sometimes preoccupy so much of my mind. Would that work, would all my troubles disappear…probably not, but it’s a nice thought sometimes. So what can I do…

A Year of Simple Living

I do know that I want to structure my life in a way where I actually enjoy whatever it is that I am doing. I want to be present and focused. I want to develop a habit of staying in the moment. I want to wake up every morning and feel grateful for another day.

I want to look whoever I am talking to in the eye and give them my full attention instead of worrying about all the other things I “need” to be doing. I don’t want to be thinking about how I am going to answer them, I want to just listen. How nice would that be?

I want to focus on single-tasking instead of multi-tasking. Multi-tasking leads to stress, it divides our focus and causes us to lose the ability to live in the moment.

I want to appreciate nature. I want to look at the sky, watch the squirrel look for a nut it buried last month. Stop and listen to the wind, feel it on my skin.

I want to slow down and savor my food, you know actually sit down and eat it instead of standing at the counter cleaning up the dishes while I’m trying to eat my lunch. I want to taste it, really taste it. I want to be mindful of my food, where and how I am eating it.

I want to live a better quality of life with less stress. Life can be so much more than just getting through another day. Life can be an amazing adventure.

I think this quote by Abraham Lincoln sums it up best. “In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.”

“Let yourself be open and life will be easier. A spoon of salt in a glass of water makes the water undrinkable. A spoon of salt in a lake is almost unnoticed.”
― Buddha Siddhartha Guatama Shakyamuni

“The mind that opens to a new idea never returns to its original size.”
― Albert Einstein

I have become alot more open to new experiences over the last 5 years or so, which I believe has helped to make me a better person. I have challenged myself to try new things and pushed myself to step out of my box, which has not been easy but after doing so I am always so glad that I did. I would have missed out on some wonderful experiences and wouldn’t have met some of the wonderful people who are in my life today had I not. In a book that I am in reading by Gretchin Rubin she says “Happiness does not always make me happy.” I absolutely get what she is saying by this statement. Fear is powerful and it holds us back in so many ways, it can imprison you if you let it. Facing your fears takes strength and courage and definitely is not easy, and it may not make you happy at the time. You will usually find out once you have that 1. It wasn’t nearly as bad as you thought it would be, and 2. You will feel so much better about yourself once you have. But to do so you must be open and willing to have new experiences in your life.

So BE OPEN and enjoy life!

I challenge you this week to open yourself to something new this week. If you do let me know!